Initial results from a Trans-Amazon Drilling Project core from the Acre Basin of Brazil

Abstract. The Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP) is reconstructing the late Cenozoic history of Amazonian geology, climate, rivers, and forests. Drilling in the Acre Basin of western Brazil in 2023 recovered an 860 m drill core characterized by sediments that were deposited in a large paleo-river system. The overall sequence includes sandstones, siltstones, and mudstones that underwent varied degrees of weathering and pedogenesis. Here, we describe the ongoing geochronologic, geochemical, mineralogical, geophysical, and biotic analyses of the sedimentary record and present some preliminary inferences of the environmental history based on these initial results. Except for the uppermost ∼ 12 m, sediments from the drill core represent a single lithostratigraphic unit, assigned to the Solimões Formation, which is dominated by feldspar-rich sands of Andean origin. The pollen assemblage is quite different from Early to Middle Miocene floras that have been analyzed from a few sites elsewhere in the western Amazon. The novel pollen assemblage and new geochronological results suggest that the sequence may span the latest Miocene and all of the Pliocene Epoch, an interval that currently is not well represented in existing regional records and that is crucial for understanding the evolution of Amazonian biodiversity, as well as landscape transformations driven by Andean uplift and global climate change.

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Journal
Scientific Drilling
Published
2026-06-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-35-127-2026
Primary Topic
Fish biology, ecology, and behavior
Type
article
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0.00

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article

Initial results from a Trans-Amazon Drilling Project core from the Acre Basin of Brazil

Werner E. Piller, Felipe Torres Figueiredo, Fernanda Costa Gonçalves Rodrigues, Cristiano Mazur Chiessi et al.
Scientific Drilling
Fish biology, ecology, and behavior
article

Initial results from a Trans-Amazon Drilling Project core from the Acre Basin of Brazil

Werner E. Piller, Felipe Torres Figueiredo, Fernanda Costa Gonçalves Rodrigues, Cristiano Mazur Chiessi, Gelvam A. Hartmann, Said Kamrani-Mehni, Thomas Miranda, Alderlene Pimentel de Brito, Brian K. Horton, Paul A. Baker, Thomas Wiersberg, Ingrid Romero, A. Joshua West, Marc‐Élie Adaïmé, Sarah J. Feakins, E. J. Piispa, Doug Schnurrenberger, Caio Breda, Maurício Parra, André Marconato, Adriano Domingos dos Reis, Cécile Gautheron, Martin Groß, Belén Zamudio, Cindy Kunkel, Caroline A. E. Strömberg, Surangi W. Punyasena, Priscila Emerich Souza, Elena Stiles, Isaac Salém Alves Azevedo Bezerra, Jéssica de Souza Gabi Barcellos, Liliane Janikian, Andrés Salazar-Ríos, Camila Eliza Althaus, Larissa Natsumi Tamura, C.E. Souza Cruz, Henrique O. Sawakuchi, Rachel T. So, Thomas Kenji Akabane, Siu Mui Tsai, Carina Hoorn, Diana Ochoa, Giovanni Bogotá‐Ángel, Bodo Bookhagen, Kristina Brady Shannon, Helanlin Xiang, Anders Noren, Carlos D’Apolito, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Alastair Milne, Ufrn, Rain Blankenship, Francy Milena Carvajal-Landinez, Lin Li, Renato Paes de Almeida, Sebastián Gómez, Carlos Jaramillo, K. Heeschen, Vinicius de Lima Passos, Daniel Antunes Coppi, Cleverson Silva, Angela Martinez, Fatima Leite, André O. Sawakuchi, Fabiano N. Pupim, Brian Grivna, Angelo Plata Torres, Marcelo Mota, Kate Freeman, Jhon Afonso, Clauses Sousa, Ingo Wahnfried, Rodrigo Ferreira de Lucena, Victor Salgado, Pedro Victor Oliveira Gomes, Rafaela Maciel Lopes de Paula, Leonardo Henrique, Kleiton R. Araújo, William Mozart Henrichs, Tacio Bicudo, Catherine Rigsby, Silane A. F. da Silva-Caminha, Roney da Silva de Azevedo Júnior, Carlos Eduardo M. Mazoca, Dailson Bertassoli, Andrés Díaz-Jamamillo, Francisco R. Negri, Marcos Barbosa, Emma Hartke, Raquel M. M. Romão
article en

Abstract

Abstract. The Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP) is reconstructing the late Cenozoic history of Amazonian geology, climate, rivers, and forests. Drilling in the Acre Basin of western Brazil in 2023 recovered an 860 m drill core characterized by sediments that were deposited in a large paleo-river system. The overall sequence includes sandstones, siltstones, and mudstones that underwent varied degrees of weathering and pedogenesis. Here, we describe the ongoing geochronologic, geochemical, mineralogical, geophysical, and biotic analyses of the sedimentary record and present some preliminary inferences of the environmental history based on these initial results. Except for the uppermost ∼ 12 m, sediments from the drill core represent a single lithostratigraphic unit, assigned to the Solimões Formation, which is dominated by feldspar-rich sands of Andean origin. The pollen assemblage is quite different from Early to Middle Miocene floras that have been analyzed from a few sites elsewhere in the western Amazon. The novel pollen assemblage and new geochronological results suggest that the sequence may span the latest Miocene and all of the Pliocene Epoch, an interval that currently is not well represented in existing regional records and that is crucial for understanding the evolution of Amazonian biodiversity, as well as landscape transformations driven by Andean uplift and global climate change.

Scientific DrillingVol. 35(1)
Linköping University (SE), University of North Carolina at Charlotte (US), University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US), University of Southern California (US), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (PA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Minnesota (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), Universalmuseum Joanneum (AT), Royal Society of Edinburgh (GB), Universidade Federal do Acre (BR), National Museum of Natural History (US), Universidade de Brasília (BR), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), Universidade Federal Fluminense (BR), University of Iceland (IS), Duke University (US), University of Potsdam (DE), Universidade de São Paulo (BR), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR), Universidad de Salamanca (ES), East Carolina University (US), Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (BR), Universidade Federal de Sergipe (BR), University of Washington (US), Geological Society of America (US), Geological Society of London (GB), Ensenada Institute of Technology (MX), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (BR), Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas (CO), Graz University of Technology (AT), Carnegie Department of Plant Biology (US), Terra (NL), Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (US), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (BR), GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (DE), Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul (BR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Universidade Federal do Amazonas (BR), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (FR), The University of Texas at Austin (US), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (BR), University of Amsterdam (NL), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Austrian Science Fund, China Scholarship Council, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Centros de Pesquisa, Inovação e Difusão, Fundação Amazônia Paraense de Amparo à Pesquisa, Division of Earth Sciences
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